The invention pertains to a spike for securing a flexible member to the earth strata. More specifically, the invention pertains to an elongate bunker spike for securing a flexible golf sand bunker liner to the earth strata.
Most golf courses employ sand bunkers as hazards to increase the difficulty of the golf hole. While a sand bunker may be located in a variety of locations on a golf course, the typical locations are either near the green, i.e., greenside bunker, or near or in the fairway, i.e., fairway bunker. A golf bunker typically comprises an excavation in the ground (i.e., earth strata) that contains sand. It is important for the sand to maintain its integrity in the golf bunker. This can be a challenge for a number of reasons. Heavy rains can tend to erode and move the sand out of the bunker. Thus, it is important for the bunker to exhibit a capability to retain sand in the bunker. Dirt from the floor of the excavation can migrate into the sand thereby diminishing the consistency and integrity of the sand. It is therefore important to prevent or at least minimize the migration of dirt into the sand in the bunker.
One way to help maintain the sand in the bunker and minimize the migration of dirt and other foreign objects into the sand is to position a bunker liner on the floor of the bunker excavation. The bunker liner is a flexible member that is secured to the earth strata so it does no move or shift. Bunker liners include the SANDMAT® Model SM350 and SM400 distributed by Milliken Design, Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C. According to the records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, SANDMAT® is a registered trademark (Supplemental Registration No. 2,990,746) owned by Milliken Design, Inc.
There are a number of fasteners used to fasten or secure the bunker liner to the ground, i.e., earth strata. One such fastener is a six-inch, U-shaped, 11 gauge, wire staple. Using these wire staples is an inexpensive way to secure the bunker liner to the earth strata; however, they possess the least amount of holding power. This means that over time, a bunker liner secured with the wire staples will become loose, and eventually move or shift position. It is undesirable for the bunker liner to move or shift after being secured to the earth strata. Another fastener useful to secure the bunker liner to the earth strata is six inch spike sold under the designation Poly-Spike by EMMA Sales, LLC of Fairview, Tenn. The six-inch Poly-Spike exhibits significant holding power so that the bunker liner is secured for a long time. However, the six-inch Poly-Spike is more expensive to use than the wire staple. Whether one uses the wire staples or the six-inch Poly-Spikes, the fasteners are located about every six inches within the bunker and driven into the ground or earth strata. The heads of the spikes, i.e., the wire staples or the six-inch Poly-Spikes, are then applied with glue to fasten the head of the spike to the bunker liner material.
The six-inch Poly-Spike has two legs that extend to penetrate the bunker liner. While the use of two legs results in a significant holding power, the use of two legs increases the cost of the spike. It would be highly desirable to provide a bunker spike that exhibits significant holding power and yet uses only one leg thereby decreasing the cost of the spike.
Earlier spikes used to secure bunker liner have use a plus sign shaped point. These plus-sign shaped point spikes have experienced a more difficult time penetrating the fabric. It would thus be highly desirable to provide a bunker spike that more easily penetrates the bunker liner material during installation of the bunker liner, and more specifically, during the step of securing the bunker liner to the earth strata using the bunker spike.
Earlier spikes, e.g., the wire staples or the six-inch Poly-Spikes, used to secure the bunker liner to the earth strata have used a separate step of applying glue to the spike to hold it to the bunker liner material. The requirement of gluing the spike to the bunker liner material adds additional expense to the installation process. It would be highly desirable to provide a spike that holds the bunker liner material by itself without the need for glue. This would result in significant cost savings in material and labor connected with the installation of the liner.